Archive for November, 2010

The fourth talk of the Newman-Scotus Symposium is given by Rev. Dr. Ford and titled “Newman’s Personalist Argument for Belief in God.” He first covers Newman’s aversion of philosophical proofs of God’s existence since they are theoretical, not real and not personally engaging as is required for personal assent to faith. He underscores the difference by comparing those who are willing to die for the Pythagorean Theorem (nobody) vs those who are willing to die for the faith. (more…)

Ave Maria MeditationsA cry from the heart: My God, if You exist, make Your existence known to me!

from Bl. Charles de Foucauld before his conversion (feast day is December 1st)

As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing else but live for him, my religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith: God is so great! There is such a difference between God and everything that is not.

PRAYERS OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AT THE TABERNACLE:

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your body, Your soul, Your human nature, Your divinity, Your whole being is there, in its twofold nature. How close You are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, My Beloved!

You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried You than You are to me when You rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. you were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle.

Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am I!

Ave Maria! For a predominantly Buddhist country Sri Lanka sure puts us to shame in honoring the grand dignity of its highest ranking Church members:

With Consistory Week now in the books, the newest far-flung members of the College of Cardinals have returned home. Yet even if the galero hasn’t been conferred during the elevation rites since 1965, that didn’t keep Sri Lanka from rolling out a record-sized one as the second Roman “prince” in its history, Colombo’s Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, arrived back on Saturday… more via Whispers in the Loggia: Of Homecomings… and Hat Parades.

An intensely touching detail from the final Anglican sermon of the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, delivered yesterday at St John the Evangelist, New Hinksey, Oxford. As the Ordinariate Portal reports, at the end of the service, Bishop Burnham – who will be ordained into the Ordinariate as a Catholic priest – “laid aside his crozier and mitre at the feet of Our Lady”. Here is his sermon:

Homily #101130 (08min) Play – St Andrew went to preach to Peter the Prince of Apostles and so exercised his apostleship in an exemplary way. On this feast of St. Andrew Fr. Dominic Murphy preaches on the beauty of being an apostle and calls all people, even lay people, to be apostles. The key to this apostleship is prayer. (Good book on this: Soul of the Aposolate by Dom Chautard)
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Andrew the Apostle – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: rom 10:9-18
Resp: psa 19:2-3, 4-5
Gsp: mat 4:18-22

Dr. Ford answers by calling this the eureka moment where many different peaces of information comes together into one sudden insight that brings it all together in one coherent picture. Newman speaks of taking a view, and that this leads to a need for action to follow through by conversion and to show others this new view.

Follow up question, how do know if this new view or eureka moment is true?

Dr. Ford answers by saying there is no formula to know. But only points to the need to include the need for the will being involved in the process of inference.

Homily #101129 (07min) Play – Today is the feast of All Saints of the Franciscan Order where we honor all the Franciscan saints. Fr. Dominic explains how St. Francis founded his three orders in order to produce saints and great ones. He exhorts us friars to be one of those saints by following the four Ps: Penance, Perseverance , Prayer, Preaching,
Ave Maria!
Mass: All Saints of the Franciscan Ord. – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: sir 44:1, 10-15
Resp: psa 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gsp: mar 10:17-21

Newman-Scotus Symposium – Fr. Ed Ondrako asks how we might implement what the Pope asked for, to reconnect will and intellect?

Dr. Noone answers that the problem is rooted in Descartes by disassociating will from intellect. He was aware of Scotus and used his thoughts but ultimately subverted them. He covers the progress from Descartes and even sketches the reasons why Scotus is blamed due to misconceptions about him.

Fr. Ed adds that it is very heard to stay clear of misconceptions.

Dr. Noone reflects on the rarity of authors and philosophers to be free of preconceptions and pints to the exception of Etienne Gilson who saw right past the heavy bias against Scotus in the 1920’s and 30’s. And that it is sad that Scotus is not included in the great books program.

Fr. Ed further reflects on how this exposes a lack of knowledge of medieval history.

Sr. Mary Beth Ingham reflects on how challenging Scotus is to modern impoverished notions of thought and intellectual activity and even the notion of the person. Scotus does not hold to a real distinction between Intellect and will whereas Aquinas did have this distinction and led to a rather strict separation between the two.

This episode was a live show on local television with guest Jill Sackidovitch director of the Westbrook, CT branch of Birthright, the premier nation-wide (even international) emergency pregnancy assistance centers for women. She relates to hostess Corinn Dahm how she got involved in Birthright when she wasn’t even looking to do so as well as all the challenges of talking to young mothers in distressed pregnancies. They discuss:

pro-choice nature of the agency in that it gives women a chance to choose life when, in this pro-abortion world, pregnant women are often heavily pressured to abort their child

demoralizing and even traumatic nature of abortion that scars many women for life.

lack of safety for abortion procedure

lack of education about the emotional and medical dangers of abortion.

difficulties and joys of adoption for women with unwanted pregnancies

how they reach out to distressed mothers

procedure for giving assistance once they come to their facilities

how friendship is the greatest thing needed for these women even if they do make the wrong decision

Homily #101128 (10min) Play – Fr Dominic preaches on the opening of Advent when we prepare for the coming of Our Lord when He is born at Bethlehem on Christmas Day. Father focuses on the Marian dimension of this season when we should renew our consecration to Mary so that we can prepare all the better, gaining graces, overcoming bad habits.
Ave Maria!
Mass: 1st Sunday of Advent – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: isa 2:1-5
Resp: psa 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
2nd: rom 13:11-14
Gsp: mat 24:37-44

The first basis of filial piety towards Mary is evidently her spiritual motherhood to Christians. Nothing is more common than the name of Mother given to the Blessed Virgin. And nothing is rarer, one could almost say, than a perfect understanding of the meaning of this title. How many souls, even those devoted to the Virgin, only hold erroneous or, in either case, very incomplete ideas about the spiritual maternity of Mary! It is, therefore, necessary to establish first of all the true basis of that maternity. We have tried to do this elsewhere. Here it will suffice to recall the most indispensable ideas.

Some of the faithful imagine that we call Mary by this name of Mother because she loves us with an incomparable love-every mother loves, but every person who loves is not a mother. Or because she incessantly nourishes our souls with graces, but is a simple wet-nurse a mother? Or again, because Jesus, before dying, said to each one of us in the person of John: “Behold your mother”; but if the maternity of Mary depends on that word alone, it is an adoptive maternity-not a real one.

For Mary to be truly our Mother, she must have given us our supernatural life. And that is precisely what she did. Our supernatural life is the life of Jesus within us. “For me to live is Christ,” says St. Paul. Mary has given us Christ; she gave Him to us precisely in order to enable us to live His life. She is, therefore, our Mother. (more…)

Homily #101127 (13min) Play – Today the FI’s celebrate the feast of the Miraculous Medal. We have the Gospel account of the Miracle at Cana performed by our Lord at the instigation of Mary, His mother. Fr. Bonaventure explains the historical background of the apparition of Rue de Bac, occurring in the anti-religious aftermath of the French Revolution. In the apparition, Our Lady asked for the Immaculate Conception Medal to be struck. This medal became associated with so many miracles that it soon became known as the Miraculous Medal. These miracles are preformed by God but through the prayers of Mary just as it happened in Cana two millennia ago, which resulted in the strengthening of the faith of the disciples. St Maximilian, one of the FI’s Patron Saints called these medals “bullets” because they were so good at bringing about conversions.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Miraculous Medal – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: rev 12:11, 5-6, 14-17
Resp: psa 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17
Gsp: joh 2:1-11

Medal of Miracles #1 – St. Catherine kneeling in front of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, 4 min >>> Play

Re-post of previous video on the occasion of the feast of the Miraculous Medal

Ave Maria!

This vignette of the apparition of Our Lady to St. Catherine Laboure on the occasion of her request for the Medal was produced by the Franciscans of the Immaculate in conjunction with Susan Mackewich of Gizmo Productions and Dave Wroe.